Long-time THV 11 Chief Meteorologist Ed Buckner passes away at age 59
KTHV 11 announced on Monday that former Chief Meteorologist Ed Buckner passed away at the age of 59 after a battle with cancer.
Buckner, a Houston native, joined the THV 11 team in 1996 and served as the station's chief for 25 years.
KARK 4 News Chief Meteorologist Todd Yakoubian remembers Buckner as a friend and he will be missed.
'Many are alive today because of his life saving severe weather information,' Yakoubian said. 'Ed made our state a better place. We continue to think and pray for his family and friends during this very terrible time.'
THV 11 shared that Buckner stepped away from his meteorology work in early 2020 after complications with Tourette Syndrome.
FOX 16 News Chief Meteorologist Joel Young shared he was saddened to hear of the passing of Buckner and shared his impact on weather was felt by those for generations.
'I never knew him personally, but the weather industry is small and his impact on his community was huge,' Young said 'My thoughts and prayers go out to Ed's family and friends during this difficult time.'
Buckner is survived by wife Carolyn Buckner, his children Brooke Buckner, Morgan Buckner, Grant Lewis, Kristan Hendricks and seven grandchildren. One daughter, Ashton Eakin, preceded him in death in 2019, also from cancer.
For more information, visit THV11.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Buzz Feed
3 days ago
- Buzz Feed
Homeowners Share Previous Owners' Repair Disasters
Moving into a new place comes with a lot of excitement, especially if you're lucky enough to actually own your home. However, sometimes the previous owners leave "improvements" behind that can range from weird and annoying to downright dangerous. Recently, people on Reddit commiserated over the dumb surprises that the last owners left in their homes, and some of these are absolutely wild. Here's what people had to say: "They built an addition over the septic tank, so there's no way to get to the clean-out." —Cold-Level-5651 "The guy that built our house was VERY smart, as in college professor in electric engineering smart. He designed the heating system, a solar geothermal hybrid. It was all controlled by a system he designed. The outside is made of river rocks, and the walls are about a foot thick. The design is multiple octagons. All that, and he used the absolute cheapest materials on the inside he could find. Drop ceilings, hollow core doors, and cheap carpet. No one but him had an idea of how to fix and maintain the heating system, so when it started to fail, it had to be completely ripped out. His name was Ed. We've been working for 10 years to de-Ed the house." "They hung all the gutters to sag in the middle instead of sloping to the sides, so it was just waterfalls all over the house when it rained." "They put white gloss paint on all the woodwork, every year, for 20+ years without sanding back first. Doors don't shut properly, and there are drips everywhere; it's so thick. And they put new flooring down over old flooring. It was vinyl over carpet, and there was laminate over the vinyl. Or the three layers of tiles in the kitchen, they just did tiles over the old tiles, which were over even older tiles." —bazooka_toot "They cut a rectangular hole in the side of the garage so their dogs could go into the outside kennel or into the garage kennel as they desired. It was nice for their dogs, I'm sure. The dumb part, though, is they may as well have put up a 'Mice Welcome' sign. Free dog food and a nice insulated wall in which to recreate and have babies, what more could a mouse want?!" "About three weeks after we moved into this house, the sewer backed up into our basement. Raw sewage was shooting up out of the vent pipe like the Old Faithful Geyser. We had to get a plumber to come in at 7 p.m. on a Sunday. What a nightmare that was. The plumber was checking things out for three hours. All the while, the sewer water was just flowing into the basement. He finally went outside and put a camera down into the vent pipe. He found a 3.5-foot piece of fence board in the vent pipe." "My in-laws rented our home from us for a while. We eventually moved back in, and some of the things they did were just so crazy, we haven't been able to figure them out. They filled the gutters with stones. Like, smoothed and polished rocks. No clue why. All the water valves, like those to the toilet and sink, are glued open. They removed the flooring. They painted every room in the house at least three times." "They sanded wood paneling that wasn't real wood. They removed all the banisters and stair railings. They planted an apple tree about four feet away from the house. They removed the ice maker from the freezer. They used some kind of sand-textured resin to refinish the countertops in the bathrooms. They spray-painted the fins on the A/C unit."—Relevant-Package-928 "Too many to list, but not capping the former well pipe so that it geysers into the basement during a heavy rain is high on the list. The house is 107 years old, so there are plenty of quirks. The former owner lives across from me. He is in his late 80s and the neighborhood oddball. Whenever I ask him a question about the house or work he might've done, I feel like I lose a few IQ points." "They painted over the hardwood floors. They also rewired the light for the stairs, so the only switch is at the top of the stairs. We had to put a nightlight in that we can control with Alexa, so we have some light to see to get to the top at night. (There's a plug halfway up the stairs on the wall.) And the bathroom door was installed upside down and backwards, so it doesn't shut all the way." "They glued all the valences to the walls." —rocknroller2003yes "They put a lamppost in the front yard made out of a spray-painted PVC pipe, which was powered by a 14/2 wire run through a garden hose that was buried 6 inches down, with landscape lighting powered by interior-grade extension cords wrapped in duct tape at the connections." "It's a 1940s house. I wanted to add ceiling lights to the living room, on a three-way switch. So I'm climbing through the attic, trying to reverse engineer the current wiring. I found some 1960s aluminum wire, not attached to the joist, just floating around in the insulation. Also junctioned, but not in a junction box, and not with wire nuts; rather, just with 1960s electrical tape. It probably goes without saying, but the attic doesn't have modern insulation either, rather something along the lines of 1960s shredded newspaper and denim, which would immediately conflagrate when your 1960s electrical tape gives out." "Had a pre-buy inspection done. The inspector goes to the garage, pushes the door opener button, and it goes up halfway, stops. Press again, it goes down, bounces up to the top, and closes again. After about five presses, it finally goes fully open and stays there. We look over at the homeowner that I'm considering buying from. 'Yeah, I don't know, it's been like that since I installed it. If you press the button enough times, it gets to where you need it.'" "I did buy the house because I figured it shouldn't be too hard to fix. Shortly after I moved in, I went out with a screwdriver to take the panel apart. 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"They used a chainsaw to turn a closet into a hallway to go from the living room to the bathroom." "My friend bought a house a few years ago, and found an urn full of someone's ashes in the back of a built-in cupboard! The previous owner had to make a 7-hour round trip back to collect their forgotten relative." —BeagleMadness "They installed a downstairs bathroom without enough grade to the outgoing sewer pipe. Their solution was to put in an outgoing pipe with the top half cut off, then cover it with some sort of metal mesh(?), which was then covered with cement and carpet. We discovered it 10 years after we moved in when my foot went through the family room floor into the outgoing pipe." "They wanted new outlets, so they wired outdoor/green extension cords to the existing outlets and ran them in the crawlspace and then wired them to the new outlet. They also built an addition to the house, but forgot insulation under the floor and in the attic. They put down the slab for an addition, then waited until that slab sank and cracked, THEN built the addition. So if I want to level the floor (mud jack), then it's gonna make the walls uneven." "The previous owners of the house were very big fans of HGTV. Not fancy HGTV, budget HGTV. They installed their own tile, with no spacers, no level, or no ruler. The grout lines are inconsistent, some spots 1/4 inch, some 3/4 inch. It's also super slippery when wet." —maybenotJuju "When I first moved into the house, the city tried to saddle me with a water bill for over $1,200 from the previous owners. I laughed and said no chance in Hell as that sounded like they let months go by with it being delinquent since my brother's bill in a similar house two streets over is roughly $50/month. When I noticed the hot water pressure seemed off, I went down to the hot water tank to investigate. There was a strange splitter right about where the brass line was feeding off from the top of the tank, and the valve was closed in the second direction." "They put in a shower right against the exterior siding of the house. No interior wall or insulation. The damp moved up above the shower until it rotted away the main beam supporting the upper two stories of the house. We live in a row house, and it was this close to collapsing and possibly taking the back of the neighboring houses down with it. Thank goodness the first thing we did during reno was pull out that janky bathroom." "They put in paneling floor-to-ceiling to conceal crumbling plaster walls. Did they think that the humidity of Savannah, GA would not be soaked up by that crap??? Caution: due to rippled walls, walking or even looking down the long upstairs hallway may cause dizziness and/or vomiting." —Low-Association586 "They wallpapered the windows in the bedroom. Not kidding. Apparently, they never heard of blackout curtains." "They did a remodel and moved the washer and dryer, but left the full dryer vent under the sink fully open to the outside, so there was like an 8-inch hole through the wall. Their idea of fixing it was to shove some towels in for 'insulation.'" "They connected the sewage off-gas to the vent fan pipe. What's that smell? It's sewage." —Hot_Lifeguard6297 "They put in a new bathroom in 1975 or so, but didn't demo the old one. They just built over it. Tile and everything. So we had to demo two bathrooms, basically, when we renovated." "Rather than fix the underlying issue that made the vent in the front office rattle, they just put bricks in the ductwork." "There are three switches that control one receptacle in our living room, presumably for a lamp. If one switch is turned off, the others won't turn the lamp on. (I think.) Similar problem on the staircase. Turn the overhead light off downstairs, and you can't turn it on upstairs. We have an electrician coming." —Accurate_Birthday278 "They made a 15-foot-long faux beam out of 1x6s, nailed it to the ceiling, and mounted a fan to it. Luckily, nobody was sitting on the couch when it all came crashing down." And finally, "They encased the top of my chimney in concrete so much so that it looks like the head of a penis. I've got the dick house."


Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
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Illinois SNAP Education program eliminated amid federal cuts: ‘It's heartbreaking'
In a makeshift classroom in a Roseland low-income housing complex, nine women watched nutrition educator Denetria Adams saute a glistening mix of carrots, celery and onion. Tammy Spivey, 60, raised her hand from the back row. 'What's worse, cooking oil or lard?' 'Lard,' Adams answered, stirring the steaming mirepoix with practiced ease. 'It clogs your arteries.' Across the room, fellow educator Christine Davis jumped in. 'We always want to make sure we're being cognizant of the type of fat that we're putting into our bodies.' She rattled off a list of healthier alternatives. Sunflower oil, olive oil, avocado oil. Spivey jotted down the names on her note sheet, then underlined each word twice. It was the sixth session of a cooking class run by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education initiative, or Snap-Ed. For weeks, Mercy Housing residents gathered to cover nutrition basics, build kitchen skills and learn how to stretch their food stamps. It might also be one of the last. In July, the federal program was abruptly cut under President Donald Trump's sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act, leaving thousands across Illinois in the lurch. For decades, SNAP-Ed has partnered with dozens of Chicago organizations — from food pantries to public schools — to address the root causes of health disparities. Now, with just a few months' notice, staff are dismantling a 30-year program carefully woven into the city's social safety net. 'It was an absolute gut punch,' said Daylan Dufelmeier, who heads SNAP-Ed locally as the director of the Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion at the University of Illinois Chicago. 'The work that we do is so important and so critical, so when we got caught in political crossheads, it was brutal.' It's the latest in a flurry of welfare cuts under the Trump administration. The president's recent tax-and-spending legislation has slashed billions in federal food benefits and significantly reduced Medicaid access. Spivey, a former quality control technician, has relied on food stamps and disability checks for as long as she can remember. When she used to cook for her now-grown daughter, both were essential to keep food on the table. She couldn't always afford to prioritize nutrition. 'They cutting out the wrong things,' Spivey said. 'It's not right.' In addition to nutrition education classes, SNAP-Ed programming includes food access directories, social media campaigns and advocacy work. According to staff, those initiatives prevent more than 5,000 cases of obesity and nearly 600 cases of food insecurity across Illinois each year. For many low-income families, budgeting for healthy food options can be a challenge, experts say. That can lead to long-term health issues, including chronic diseases and nutritional deficiencies. But nonprofit research organization Altarum estimates that every dollar invested in the Illinois program returns between $5.36 and $9.54 in health care savings. 'People want to be healthier, they want to be physically active, but they don't have the resources,' said educator Adams, as she spooned out heaps of rice. Despite its documented success, the Republican-led House Committee on Agriculture said in May that the program has yielded 'no meaningful change' since its inception in 1992, wasting taxpayer money. Funding will officially run dry Sept. 30, the end of the federal fiscal year. This fiscal year, Illinois received nearly $20 million in funding for the program. About $5 million went to UIC, and the rest was funneled to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for statewide work. With the funding slashed, roughly 250 staff members will lose their jobs across the U. of I. system. 'These are people that are their communities building trust,' said Germán Bollero, dean of the U. of I. College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. 'That is at the core of our mission: transforming society to be a better place. It's heartbreaking.' Each year, SNAP-Ed is estimated to reach about one million Illinois residents, working with more than 1,800 community partners. About 1.9 million people in the state receive SNAP benefits, according to the Illinois Department of Human Services. At Mercy Housing, Alma Watson, 63, flipped through the pages of her workbook, filled with lines of her cursive handwriting. She scanned a list of recipes — turkey tacos, skillet chicken breasts and baked sweet potatoes — each paired with nutritional information. 'People don't know, and some people really need it. Like me, for one,' Watson said with a laugh. It's her second time taking the eight-week course at Mercy, where she's lived for 15 years. Participants receive boxes of fresh produce and poultry to re-create recipes at home, enough to last Watson for days. But the real joy is being in the classroom again, she said, learning alongside peers. Most of them also depend on SNAP benefits. 'I love this setting. The people are really nice,' Watson said. 'I just love everything so far.' For SNAP-Ed staff, that positive feedback makes the impending shutdown harder. Educators Adams and Davis are set to lose their jobs in a few weeks, but their greatest concern, they said, is for the communities they serve. Through the window, Davis pointed to a weathered convenience store across the street. Its neon posters advertised tobacco and soda. 'Most of the (nearby) grocery stores aren't really grocery stores. They're markets like that,' she said. '(Residents) don't have much of an option.' Food deserts — areas more than a mile from a grocery store — have plagued the Chicago area for years, particularly on the South Side. While SNAP benefits are an immediate solution, SNAP-Ed helped chip away at those broader systemic issues, Dufelmeier said. After funding runs out, operations will likely cease immediately. 'The impacts from the cuts to our programs you may not see next week, but it's a long-term impact,' Dufelmeier said. After the lesson, each participant received a paper plate with sauteed vegetables, chicken, rice and soy sauce. The room had buzzed with laughter, but it was quieter as everyone ate. One resident ambled to the front of the room for seconds. Adams smiled and dished out another helping. 'Here you go, honey.'


Medscape
5 days ago
- Medscape
A1c Testing in EDs Can Spot Undiagnosed Diabetes Cases
TOPLINE: Among adults aged 30 years or older presenting to the emergency department (ED) without a prior diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (T2D), A1c testing combined with the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) identified a substantial proportion with prediabetes or diabetes — especially among those from ethnically diverse populations. METHODOLOGY: Researchers in England conducted a prospective study from December 2021 to December 2022 to determine the prevalence of glucose intolerance among 1382 individuals aged 30 years or older (45.1% men) who did not have a known diagnosis of diabetes and presented to the ED of a hospital in Manchester. They also tested the utility of the FINDRISC in predicting the risk for diabetes in high-risk individuals. Data on demographics, lifestyle factors, physical measurements, and A1c levels were collected, and the FINDRISC assessment was conducted by trained staff. Patients were classified as those having normal glucose tolerance, prediabetes, or diabetes according to both National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines. TAKEAWAY: On the basis of the NICE criteria, 80.1% of attendees had normal glucose tolerance, 11.6% had prediabetes, and 8.3% had diabetes; on the basis of the ADA criteria, the corresponding percentages were 61.3%, 30.4%, and 8.3%, respectively. Each unit increase in the FINDRISC was linked to an 8% (5%-12%) higher risk for prediabetes and a 16% (10%-23%) higher risk for diabetes, as per the NICE criteria, with similar findings seen for the ADA criteria as well; the risk remained elevated even after adjustment for confounders. Compared with White individuals, British South Asian and other minority groups showed nearly twice the risk for prediabetes (relative risk ratio [RRR], 1.94; 95% CI, 1.11-3.38) and three times the risk for diabetes (RRR, 2.80; 95% CI, 1.61-4.84). IN PRACTICE: "The considerable prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes within our patient population highlights the critical need for routine HbA1c screening in this setting, which may be the only place where hard-to-reach individuals may attend for healthcare," the authors wrote. SOURCE: This study was led by Edward B. Jude, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care, NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, England. It was published online on August 06, 2025, in Diabetes Therapy. LIMITATIONS: The accuracy of A1c testing can be affected by conditions altering the quality or quantity of haemoglobin, such as anaemia or haemoglobinopathies, potentially leading to an underestimation of diabetes prevalence. Selection bias may exist as the study focused only on patients who underwent bloodwork in the ED. The single-centre nature of the study limited the generalisability of the results. DISCLOSURES: This study received partial funding from Sanofi Pharmaceuticals and Novo Nordisk. One author was supported by the 4Ward North Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Training Fellowship, and another author declared receiving travel and research grants from the funding agencies and other sources. This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.